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Andrea Yates - Page 2

Correct, it was her the one that kept blaming herself for being a "bad" mother and did not want her kids to go to hell. In any case, it was Rusty who allowed this crazy guy to enter their home and preach those type of things.

Yates Andrea

I will never forget this horrific case of a mother murdering her five children. The general consensus regards Andrea Yates as a cold blooded murderer but I strongly believe that this lady had a mental illness that went undiagnosed and untreated.

I read the post that was well written by Charles R and I fully agree with every word he says. It appears that Andrea Yates' entire family had a history of mental illness from depression to bipolar disorder. I suppose in some families, mental illnesses are the best kept secret or sometimes, it is undiagnosed and never treated; perhaps, this may explain why Andrea Yates' was oblivious to her family's history of mental illness.

Her husband, Rusty Yates seems like a lost soul trying desperately to find God. But what he really needed to do was, to pay close attention to his family's needs. I believe after the birth of their first son, Noah, Andrea Yates began to experience violent visions which included being visited by Satan. Apart from this, the so called preacher's wife began to sow seeds into Andrea Yates mind that she was the daughter of Eve, she was evil and not a good mother. Rusty Yates was fully aware that his wife suffered from depression and inspite of this knowledge, he continued to have more children with her. Unbelievable! I can clearly understand why this poor lady turned around and killed her five children. Andrea Yates was all alone, unaware of her family's struggle with mental illnesses and was continuously being fed by the preacher's wife about being evil. She never told her husband about her violent visions or being visited by Satan. Perhaps this was her greatest crime of all. Remaining silent.

Postpartum psychosis as Charles R indicated, is a very serious illness and if it is left undiagnosed and untreated, a horrible tragedy will be inevitable.

Rather off topic, but... I have read stories about women who have experienced severe bouts of postpartum depression and have killed their own children. One woman was not sleeping very well and her infant kept crying needlessly. Eventually, she decided to put her child in the freezer, to keep him quiet while she took a nap. She woke up three hours later and was horrified when she remembered what she had done to her son. Another woman believed that she was not a good mother, so she placed her baby in a suitcase and delivered it to a charitable organization. When she returned home, she contacted a family member and confessed. Both of these women were suffering from postpartum depression (they were never diagnosed or treated).

I think that the police believed that Andrea Yates killed her children in cold blood. The mere fact that she contacted the police, admitted to murdering her children and cited the reason for killing them was because "she was a bad mother," was enough for a jury and the rest of the world, to declare her guilty.